SKIN DEEP MAGAZINE • 21wanted. My first idea was for a little plaster attached to
my hand and it was only later, thinking about it, that I
realised it was such a terrible idea and such a good thing
that I hadn’t done it! And I carried on like that all through
my high school and uni. Every idea I had for a tattoo, a few
years later I was glad I hadn’t done it, because it would be
one of those disasters—that one-hit wonder tattoo!”
However, he does admit that there is one tattoo that he
would like to get: “What I’m hoping, is that one day I will
meet the band Green Day and ask them to sign my arm
and then get that tattooed onto my skin forever, because I
was a huge fan of those folks growing up. They had a great
influence on me and that rebellious streak of mine. Espe-
cially in the ‘90s, I was looking at them and thinking those
boys are doing what they love they, and having so much
fun with it, which was the best combination. So they kind
of kept me going. I wanted to be like that. I wanted to be
my own person. My own one-man band. And be successful.
And really it did lead to that— which is quite remarkable.”
And what’s in the pipeline for Burdon’s one-man band?
He doesn’t really do politics. He’s more interested having
fun. But, for those who are looking for to ease the on-going
Brexit pain, he’s currently working on two new balloon dogs.
One painted in Union Jack colours, and one painted in EU
flag colours. In one version, the Union Jack dog humps the
EU one. In the other, the EU one humps the Union Jack dog.
Choose whichever metaphor you like. Or you can do what
Burdon does and just stand back and snicker.